If the Highway Trust Fund is allowed to run dry, funding for projects such as this one in Ohio could be delayed. (AP Photo/Skip Peterson)

The partial government shutdown ended more than eight months ago, but Senate Democrats began reviving its specter on Monday to stoke a sense of urgency around replenishing the Highway Trust Fund.

With less than a month left before the effects of the emptying fund will trigger reduced or delayed federal funding for repairing bridges and highways, Senate Democrats said a congressional failure to pass at least a short-term funding patch would be tantamount to last fall’s government shutdown, which occurred amid a protracted fight over funding the health-care law.

“We seem to be reverting to the Republican strategy of governing by crisis,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D., R.I.) said on a call with reporters Monday. “Now we are headed for a transportation construction shutdown.”

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said earlier this month that starting in August, states will see a 28% drop, on average, in federal transportation funding as a result of the dwindling fund. Its balance is expected to approach zero next month, down from $8 billion at the end of May. States are typically reimbursed immediately for certain transportation projects, but the new restrictions will direct money to states just twice a month.

Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) said Mr. Boehner supports a long-term highway bill.

“Since there is no consensus on funding such a measure, we are working on a short-term extension, and we are confident we will act before the end of July,” Mr. Steel said. “Frankly, any Senate Democrat who wants to reach a solution should be working on a bipartisan funding option – not holding a scare-mongering press conference.”

Lawmakers in both chambers of Congress have worked for months on plans to shore up the trust fund, which is primarily financed by a gas tax that no longer brings in enough revenue to keep up with federal spending. With most lawmakers in agreement that the fund needs to be replenished, the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees are trying to come up with ways to pay for the roughly $9 billion price tag of a six-month patch, but there are few easy options. Early plans from House GOP leaders and Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) both fizzled.

Some Republicans have proposed lowering the federal gas tax to 3.7 cents and giving states more flexibility to plan and finance their own programs. Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) said Monday he hoped other GOP lawmakers would relay to any reluctant colleagues that “a highway shutdown will have a similar effect on their party as a government shutdown.”

Last fall’s shutdown gave Democrats a boost in public opinion and fundraising.

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